Anatomy of a dangerous mission

Tuesday

Sep 30, 2008 at 12:01 AMOct 5, 2008 at 12:08 PM

Retired Col. Peter Mansoor recalled the following clash between soldiers under his command and Iraqi insurgents:

In early April 2004, my brigade was ordered to provide a security escort for a battalion of the Iraqi Army moving to Fallujah. The scout platoon from Task Force 1-37 Armor received the mission. The 24 scouts mounted in six M1114 up-armored HMMWVs would accompany 18 trucks carrying 200 soldiers of the new Iraqi army.

The convoy departed Taji in the early morning, but as it entered northwest Baghdad, Shi'a militia loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr ambushed the column with small arms and rocket propelled grenade fire. The platoon leader ordered the column to continue its movement out of the engagement area, but the ill-trained Iraqi troops and their leaders panicked. Truck drivers halted their vehicles instead of continuing the movement. Iraqi soldiers dismounted and froze in place. A number of them discarded their uniforms and ran into the alleyways of the city, where they were welcomed by cheering crowds of civilian onlookers. For those still trapped in the kill zone, the situation grew desperate.

In this situation, as in so many others, noncommissioned officer leaders stepped up to the challenge. Sergeant Jason Mindy, a scout section sergeant, and Sergeant Sean McCracken, a scout vehicle commander, led their portion of the convoy to safety on the far side of the ambush site. Upon learning that 11 trucks remained in the engagement area, Sergeant Mindy and Sergeant McCracken returned through the hail of small arms and RPG fire while negotiating numerous enemy-emplaced road blocks to assist with the evacuation of the elements still under fire. Collecting a number of soldiers and vehicles together, the two noncommissioned officers led them out of the kill zone to the far side rally point established by the platoon leader. They then learned of another element remaining in the ambush area which had suffered a number of casualties. Militia fire had destroyed a U.S. recovery vehicle and several trucks. The two noncommissioned officers and their crews returned for a second time to the kill zone and extracted the remaining friendly forces four kilometers away to the rally point.

During the melee, Private First Class Scott Larson, manning a machine gun atop a HMMWV, received mortal wounds from a rocket propelled grenade. Sergeant Mindy assisted with establishing a landing zone for the medical evacuation helicopter. While attempting to regain contact with friendly forces, Sergeant Mindy observed enemy fighters in an alleyway attempting to block the convoy and attack its flanks. While engaging these enemy fighters, he established radio contact with AH-64 helicopters overhead and directed their fire into the alleyway. The Apaches destroyed the militia fighters with devastating bursts of 30 mm cannon fire, which allowed all remaining elements of the convoy to move to the rally point.

The two noncommissioned officers had led their crews in traversing through the enemy ambush zone five times to safeguard their comrades, which enabled the convoy to consolidate and reorganize. Over three dozen enemy combatants lay dead on the field of battle. For their heroic actions, Sergeant Mindy and Sergeant McCracken were awarded the Bronze Star for Valor.